Abyss (Les Légendaires)
Abyss is a major villain in the French comic book series Les Légendaires (The Legendaries). He is an extremely powerful and intelligent parasite created by Darkhell, who regards the Dark Sorcerer as his father and strives to pursue his goal of taking over the world of Alysia. He was unleashed after the Anathos Cycle and tried to put his "sister" Ténébris, Darkhell's daughter, on the throne of the kingdom of Orchidia; only to get thwarted. Abyss returns during the Wold Without Cycle and plans his revenge. Nature Abyss is a parasite who needs to take over a body to interact with the world (and perhaps even to survive outside of the bottle in which it was created). His exact nature is not explained but he was noted to have an overwhelming aura of evil. When he takes control of a body, he instantly kills and replaces his host. When posing as his host Abyss' looks perfectly normal, but revealing his true nature turns his skin chalk-white and his eyes red. Although initially genderless, he takes the gender of his host. After returning using a new host, he foregoes any semblance of humanity. He wears his host's dark green covered with a teal-like cloak and body frame, though with clawed hands and feet, black skin with metallic-looking scales over his forearms, white fur over his bare chest mixing with his long mane and covering his long tail ending with an emerald-spike, three pairs of horns on each side of his head, and glowing green lines covering his body connected to glowing green eyes. He emits green bolts of electricity, likely owing to the Emerald Power he syphoned. Powers and Abilities Abyss is powerless in his basic state, but once he gains a human shell, he gains access to his incredible magic powers and his vast knowledge about magic. He has proved able to bewitch an object to poison a defined target at contact and to brew magic potions, among others. Abyss fights by hurling huge bolts of black and red energy at once, which he can distort and move at will, and send underground for sneak attacks. He also uses them as tentacles or "hands" to seize his foes. He is able to create shields of black and red energy and displays great strength and durability. His most dangerous power is his ability to spawn smaller parasites through which he can take complete control of those who swallow them. After his return, he now fights with his claws and tail with enormous speed, strength and skill, and hurls green bolts of electricity of variable might. Personality Abyss is very cruel, selfish, scornful, and overproud. He ruthlessly kills and manipulates anyone he sees fit and proves a very sore loser, refusing to back down until those who thwarted him are dead. In his own twisted way, he considers himself an orphan who wants to reunite with his siblings and pursue the works of his father. Except than said father was the most evil mage of Alysia and the offspring is arguably even worse. Darkhell's daughter Ténébris states that she could pity Abyss, but she is far too disgusted by his crimes to bother and fiercely loathes him. Abyss regards the fact that Darkhell left him in a bottle as parental neglect and strives to prove his worth to him, by taking over Alysia in his name. In the same way, he regards Ténébris as he sister and wants to have her by his size no matter the cost. However, Abyss' fraternal love is extremely twisted and disturbing, verging on an incestuous infatuation (although they are technically not related). He is delusionally persuaded that Ténébris is as evil as he is, even though she has redeemed herself, and believes that brainwashing her would merely turn her back into what she always should have been. As such, Abyss is obsessively convinced that he and Ténébris belong together and is unable to understand why she hates him. Moreover, Abyss has his hosts' memories, knowledge and skills, with which he can impersonate them flawlessly. He is extremely intelligent and cunning, being able to devise complicate plans, to adapt them to the circumstances, and to understand things from small details; and he is a master manipulator who played everyone like a fiddle. Background Abyss was created by the dreaded Darkhell prior to the start of the series. Why was he created remains unknown though. He might have been meant as a super weapon or a powerful henchman, but having put it away in a bottle hints that he deemed him a failed experiment. Alternatively, Darkhell might have waited to find it a suitable host. Sometime after the Legendaries finally killed the God Anathos, perhaps even before. Abyss was accidentally released by Professor Kalisto Vangelis, royal medic of Orchidia Kingdom, who was secretly in love with Queen Adeyrid. ("A des rides" being French for "has got wrinkles.") The queen only has a few month left due to the incurable Lerdamer disease, and Vangelis could not bear being powerless to save her. As such, he sought the knowledge of Darkhell, which spared the kingdom big troubles years before. Queen Adeyrid could not bear children due to an accident, so she made a secret pact with Darkhell to produce an heiress to Orchidia's line of Magician Queens. With Vangelis' help, Darkhell devised a magical pregnancy and Adeyrid eventually gave birth to a daughter. (It was later revealed that this encounter and the bargain that followed were arranged from behind the scenes by Kalandre.) However, Darkhell wanted the child for him alone and abducted her shortly after her birth, raising her and naming her Ténébris. A few years later, Vangelis was able to replicate the spell with some alterations to give birth to Princess Jadina, who would later be part of the Legendaries. With that in mind, Vangelis ventured into the ruins of Casthell, Darkhell's castle, in spite of the many monsters still living here and took as many things as he could from the late Dark Sorcerer's laboratory. (Darkhell had been defeated years prior in a battle with the Legendaries, during which the divine Stone of Jovenia was broken, turning everyone in Alysia into children.) Alas this proved his undoing, as the bottle containing Abyss numbered among the artefacts which he found in Casthell. So, as soon as he made the mistake of opening it... Crisis in Orchidia Search for the Emeraudia As the Legendaries (the mage princess Jadina, the beastman Gryf, the Elementary Elf Shimy, the Barbarian Razzia and Darkhell's redeemed daughter Ténébris) are partying in a tavern to celebrate the death of the God Anathos, who destroyed a huge part of the world of Alysia, they are attacked by soldiers from Jadina's home-country of Orchidia. It turns out to be a misunderstanding however, as Jadina's father figure Professor Vangelis reveals that Queen Adeyrid merely requested Jadina and the Legendaries to visit her. On their way, the Legendaries learn that the kingdom of Orchidia owes its prosperity to the gigantic Gamera Tree that towers over it, whose sap can be turned into a highly valuable magic-amplifying jade when extracted. (However, the jade is extracted by mutilating the tree's roots on a large scale.) There, Queen Adeyrid reveals the secret behind Ténébris' and Jadina's birth and gives them one day to decide which one of them will become queen after she dies. If they both refuse the throne, it would be given to Jadina's tyrannical cousin Count Kasino (who contrary to them is overjoyed by this prospect) marking the end of the Magician Queens. Jadina later reveals that she travelled into the deepest pits of the Gamera Mines in order to search for a jade powerful enough to be used against the God of Evil. There, she made a fall that would have killed her had she not landed in the Emeraudia, the magical substance which sustains the Gamera Tree and gives it its power. It fully healed Jadina and granted her the healing factor and power boost which puzzled her companions during the battle against Anathos. She resolves to go back there and use the Emeraudia to cure Queen Adeyrid from her disease. Professor Vangelis notices that Jadina bears no scar from the wound inflicted by Anathos or the surgery he performed to save her life back then, and decides to go with the Legendaries to perform tests on the Emeraudia. However, Count Kasino's bodyguards spied on them and the corrupt aristocrat resolves to follow them into the mines to kill them and make it pass as an accident, to be the only heir left to the throne. Struggles in the mines The following day, Ténébris enters Professor Vangelis's lab to tell him that the Legendaries are about to venture into the mines. She accidentally hits Vangelis when he creeps behind her to pull a prank. As the Legendaries enter the mines, Jadina warns them that they cannot use their powers, as the magic-amplifying power of the Gamera Tree would react to them and cause a disastrous overload. Professor Vangelis then sprays a mixture of his invention on their eyes to enable them to see in darkness as clearly as in daytime. (He does not use it on Shimy, who is blind and uses magic brooches to see, and Amy, Razzia's demonic prosthetic arm, who goes into slumber. However, he warns Shimy never to use her Aura Vision to avoid a magic overload.) Meanwhile, Queen Adeyrid gets mysteriously poisoned after reading a letter in which Vangelis reveals that he suspects Jadina to be an imposter. One night, as Vangelis is comforting Ténébris, who laments the fact that the mother she wanted to meet never displays parental affection, telling her that his own father also let him down. Kasino and his bodyguards blow up a cliff to make it collapse on the dorm where the Legendaries are sleeping. Ténébris manages to protect the building, but the mines are too vast to track down the culprit. Later, Jadina starts behaving strangely and carnivorous plants erupt from the roots to disperse the Legendaries. Vangelis then tells the Legendaries that the Jadina who travelled with them is a clone. (He noticed that she lacks the real Jadina's birthmark when she showed them that all her injuries were healed.) Before they can do anything, they run into Count Kasino who attacks them with his bodyguards. The two highly skilled assassins battle the Legendaries in perfect synchronization and prove to be a match for them. Shimy then makes the mistake to use her elementary power over earth, and the ensuing magic overload causes a cave in. Razzia and Gryf only owe their lives to Amy's intervention, while Kasino's bodyguards are not so lucky. As they rush to Vangelis' rescue, they watch the fake Jadina kill Count Kasino with her bare hand and try to rush after her, but Vangelis is so scared that he accidentally prevents them from pursuing her. The group then finds a shell-shocked Shimy, who just discovered the corpse of the real Jadina. The grieving Legendaries confront the fake Jadina, who is too powerful to be subdued, until Vangelis injects her with an anti-magic serum that renders her powerless and she gets captured. Ténébris's rule Jadina's Clone is held captive as the primary suspect in Queen Adeyrid's poisoning, being injected with the anti-magic serum daily. But she does not know who she is herself and expresses concern for the Queen's wellbeing. Real Jadina or not, the Legendaries cannot bring themselves to believe that the one who fought by their side against Anathos could be evil. They later learn that the members of the Royal Council of Orchidia were arrested, as evidences proving their responsibility in the coup d'état were discovered; that Vangelis was named First Advisor; and that Ténébris decided to become Queen of Orchidia. She reasons that with Danael (the former leader of the Legendaries who got possessed by Anathos and died alongside him) and Jadina dead, their group has lost all meaning and that they must now find another way to help the world. However, the Legendaries are not convinced by Ténébris' and Vangelis' sudden change in personality and start to investigate. Gryf learns that Count Kasino was killed with a metallic blade instead of Jadina's Clone hand as they thought, while Shimy ventures into Vangelis' laboratory and discover a bottle wrapped in Darkhell's banner imbued with a frightening evil aura. As for Razzia, he begins to think that it was Ténébris who killed Kasino, something that Amy confirms. (She tried to warn him immediately but he refused to listen in the heat of the moment.) The Legendaries realize that they saw Jadina instead of Ténébris due to an illusion caused by Vangelis' mixture to see in the dark, and start suspecting him. Suspicion later confirmed when Shimy senses the bottle's overwhelming evil aura coming from Vangelis, and from within Ténébris' body albeit much weaker. Shimy and Razzia ambush Ténébris, allowing Razzia to extract the parasite that was controlling her with Amy's powers. Meanwhile, Gryf infiltrates the public execution of Jadina's Clone intending to save the one whom the Legendaries still regard as a comrade. However, Razzia makes the mistake of squishing the parasite despite Ténébris' warnings, with Vangelis sensing his creature's destruction and figuring out that the Legendaries know too much. The three rush to the arena where Jadina's Clone is about to be executed to help Gryf, who has just freed the clone and is taking her to safety. However, Vangelis activates a trap he devised to prevent any escape which knocks Gryf out with a powerful energy blast. Confronting Abyss Enraged, “Vangelis” restrains Jadina's Clone with a spear, cursing the Legendaries for ruining his schemes. He gleefully reveals to a shocked Jadina (who was practically raised by Vangelis) that he is not who he appears to be. Abyss took profit from the succession crisis and devised an intricate plan to put Ténébris on the throne of Orchidia as a puppet-queen, likely planning to use its military might to invade the rest of the world afterwards. *Pretexting to take care of the health of the royal family, of which Ténébris was now officially part, he had her drink a medicine in which he hid a parasite to control her. *He then left a bewitched letter denouncing Jadina, which would poison Queen Adeyrid upon contact to get her out of the way and create a country-wide panic. *Abyss initially planned to frame Count Kasino and dispose of Jadina, leaving only Ténébris as an heir to the throne; but upon realizing that "Jadina" was not the real one, he decided that she would make a better scapegoat and changed his plan. *He followed the Legendaries' expedition pretexting scientific studies on the Emeraudia, and used his illusion-inducing mixture to make them see Jadina instead of Ténébris when she would kill Kasino. He did not expect them to discover the real Jadina's corpse, but he took profit of this to give more credit to his accusations. *With both heirs dead, he planted false evidences framing the Royal Council for high-treason and get rid of them. Finally, when a brainwashed Ténébris was appointed Queen of Orchidia, he had her name him First Advisor to rule by her side. Vangelis being an old friend of the royals, the promotion would not raise many eyebrows. It now becomes clear that Abyss crept behind Ténébris in his laboratory pretexting a bad joke to prevent her from discovering the bottle in which he was created. In the same way, he forbade Shimy to use her Aura Vision in the mines, pretexting the danger of a magic overload to prevent her from discovering his true nature. Finally, he feigned fright to prevent the Legendaries from catching Kasino's murderer to maintain his charade. Also, when he told Ténébris about how he wanted to make his late father proud, he was referring to Darkhell. However, Abyss did not bother keeping a facade of benevolence after gaining power and neglected the fact that the Legendaries would try to investigate further; and like many other evil masterminds, his overconfidence proved his undoing. Just before he can kill Jadina's Clone, the Legendaries barge in and Shimy knocks him away with a giant stony hand, while Ténébris orders the evacuation of the arena. Alas, Abyss captures her and easily dispatches the Legendaries, who make the mistake of attacking him one after another. Jadina's Clone then enters the fray and kisses Abyss on the mouth, injecting him with anti-magic serum through her saliva to weaken him. This is not enough to block all his power but enough to weaken his grasp over Ténébris, who breaks free and angrily knocks him out. Just as she is about to finish him off in spite of Jadina's Clone's pleas, giant roots suddenly erupt from the ground and seize the villain, crushing him into a bloody pulp. It appears that the Gamera Tree is a sentient being with incredible magic power, and she can no longer stand the mutilation she suffers from the people of Orchidia whom she had been protecting during millennia. Gamera reveals that when Jadina died falling into her cavern, she used her blood to grow a half-human half-vegetal clone, much more powerful that she ever was and virtually immortal, in which she transferred Jadina's soul. As such, the present-day Jadina is both a clone and the real one at the same time. Gamera resurrected the princess hoping to gain an emissary and make the mutilations stop, but Jadina's priority was to defeat Anathos and she sealed away the memories of her rebirth. Having watched Jadina's battles to save the world through her, Gamera understood that Alysia needs her "daughter" more than she does. As such, she decided to leave the world until mankind would become more responsible with nature; but not before granting Jadina's wish of curing Queen Adeyrid from both the Lerdamer Disease and Abyss' poison. Gamera then flies away; leaving the Legendaries to reveal the truth about Abyss' schemes while Queen Adeyrid takes back the throne. Adeyrid wishes to mend her relationship with her daughters, which she strained by favouring her royal duties to the point that Jadina hardly knows her mother better than Ténébris does. However, Jadina knows that Professor Vangelis' love for her mother was requited, and she cannot accept that knowing first-hand the suffering of a marriage of interest, she willingly destined her daughter to another with Prince Halan of Sabledoray (a pun on “sable doré”, French for “golden sand”). As she departs, Gamera is seen in space orbiting around Alysia, and Abyss' hand emerging from her roots clenches into a fist, foretelling his eventual return. World Witout After the Legendaries sacrifices their lives to destroy Kalandre, the Dynaméïs and the remaining Divine Stones that the sorceress stole, reality itself is unravelled into a world where the Legendaries never existed. They are now normal mortals and their victories against Darkhell, Skroa and Anathos were the doing of the obnoxious writer Artémus del Conquisador ("con qui s'adore" being French for "self-adoring moron" and a pun on Conquistador), who witnessed their last battle and told their story as a tribute, in a series of best-selling novels that made him extremely wealthy. (In fact Artemus rewrote reality thanks to the stone splinters embedded in his notebook.) Artémus is the only one who remembers the former world. He meets Danaël and Shimy, now married human farmers, and enrols them in his quest to take back Anathos' sword that was stolen. It now appears that the former Legendaries experience flashbacks of their previous existence and that they retain their former abilities, unlocked in situations of great stress or dangers. During the story, a meteor is shown coming closer and closer to the world, and crashing on Alysia's surface. As a passer-by approaches the meteor, he is killed and fully possessed by Abyss, who swears that revenge against the Legendaries is near. It seems that the Gamera Tree only destroyed his vessel, and that he leeched Emerald Power from it, returning to Alysia with a chunk of its root as the meteor. He fully remembers the previous reality as well, and learns to his surprise that Count Kasino and his mother Invidia rule Orchidia, that this world's Vangelis is as evil as he was and plotted to seduce Princess Shun-Day after her coronation to become King of Orchidia by proxy as Abyss tried. Abyss learns that Darkhell is imprisoned in the dreaded Prison Barek, which he storms to set his "father" free, slaughtering guards and killing Kasino (who was visiting) on his wake. He likely tells him about the previous reality and the Legendaries after. Later, both villains ambush the Fabulous, here a group of thieves led by Samaël the Indomitable who stole Anathos' sword from Artémus. They make short work of them, leaving only Toopie Maker alive and depart with the sword. He later lies to Darkhell who asked him about his family in the previous world, stating that he had only him, despite clearly thinking of Ténébris. Category:Fantasy Villains Category:Comic Book Villains Category:Charismatic Category:Evil Creation Category:Genderless Category:Parasite Category:Possessor Category:Dark Forms Category:Brainwashers Category:Mastermind Category:Stalkers Category:Obsessed Category:Delusional Category:Conspirators Category:Murderer Category:Hegemony Category:Neutral Evil Category:In Love